Hummingbird
by absolut pi phi
Summary: He is the supporting and comforting gentle soul in people's lives who is valued deeply by everyone he treasures.


**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Not even a hummingbird. It's sad because they are cute.

**Warning: **OOCness is a curse on humanity. Don't blame me for its existence in here.

**A\N: **So as I've learned hummingbird symbolizes the lightness of being and enjoyment of life which are everything I've felt while writing this story.

Hope you will enjoy.

* * *

**Hummingbird**

"Good morning, Mitobe!" Koganei greets his friend wholeheartedly. "Today is so nice. A great day for practice!" He stretches towards the sun, smiling to the blue, cloudless sky.

Mitobe nods in agreement; his smile is almost as enthusiastic as his friend's.

They walk to their school's gym for morning practice in the clear winter day. Mitobe gives his expressive smiles to Koganei's chirpy speech. He doesn't have any worries about being unable to cross his thoughts or being misunderstood as people who are close to him always understand what he is thinking. His family and his best friend, Koganei, are as if living in his head. His teammates, too, have begun to understand him greatly without much need for Koganei's translations.

Mitobe cares about them all and he is thankful for every one of them for being in his life. He feels happy to have these particular teammates to play, enjoy basketball with. And he is more than glad to have this best friend by his side whose friendship is the most essential element in his happiness.

It really is a great day, isn't it?

Mitobe's blithe feelings carry through Aida's harsh training, never faltering and never reducing. They begin to play a practice match with players forming two teams.

Through the game Koganei, who is still excited about the beautiful day, finds courage and energy to try a dunk similar to Kagami's and Kiyoshi's. He realizes slightly too late that he actually doesn't have enough stamina nor arm strength for it at the moment. When he jumps surprisingly high he collides with the heavy body of a teammate who has also jumped for defense.

It is a rough collision. Koganei finds himself quickly falling at a dangerous angle that might cause fracturing of a wrist or an arm. Mitobe is close to the falling boy and reacts instinctively. He positions himself to catch his friend in order to protect him from any injuries.

Koganei collapses on a body; before he can comprehend what has happened, he hears gasps and shouts of Mitobe's name. He sees the body underneath him and jumps up to kneel beside his friend.

"Mitobe!"

Koganei can't breathe at the sight of Mitobe's sprawled limp form on the floor – eyes are closed, body is unresponsive.

"Mitobe. Please open your eyes. Mitobe!"

He doesn't know how he manages it but Koganei holds back the tears burning his eyes.

**x.X.x**

Mitobe first hears a rhythmic beeping sound and opens his eyes to an utter whiteness. He feels as if he is flying on soft feathers inside the white haze.

His blurry vision slowly clears as he realizes he is in a room. He discovers the source of the sound as he comes face to face with the screen of the heart monitor. He inspects further and sees his father sitting on a chair beside his bed. Older male seems to be sleeping.

Mitobe doesn't want to wake him up since his father looks rather tired. He stirs slightly to get a feeling of his body when his father immediately opens his eyes.

"Mitobe." Relaxation washes over old man as his son's eyes focus on him.

Father closes his eyes again for a short moment, this time in relief, and takes a deep breath. Then he touches lightly on top of his son's head where the white bandages don't cover, feels the strands of soft hair and caresses tenderly.

Mitobe looks at his father as a gentle smile lightens old man's tired features. He feels his father's hand on his.

"You are finally awake." Older man continues to gaze into his son's eyes. "I should get the nurse. Excuse me for a moment."

Father stands up and leaves the room quickly. Mitobe is confused; he tries to remember why he is in a hospital. Then the memories of the accident fill his mind. The scare he's felt comes back and an urgent need to know Koganei's health condition takes over.

He jerks as he hears a loud bang on the closed door. It is followed with loud whines which are suspiciously sounding like coming from his siblings. Then he hears the voice definitely belongs to his mother saying "No. First, nurse must check him up."

After a second, the door opens and a male nurse enters while trying to close the door back on Mitobe's eager, worried siblings' faces.

Nurse greets Mitobe before examining his vitals and asks if he is in any kind of pain. When Mitobe shakes his head, he says it is good and expected as the teenager is on morphine but after he sleeps it off, a nice good ol' headache will be waiting for him.

Then nurse goes back to declare everything is fine and family members can see the patient now.

There is a flood of children as they push the nurse to the side so that they can be with their brother as quickly as possible. Their mother apologizes purposefully to the nurse before she, too, proceeds to see her son.

Mitobe's small siblings throw themselves on him from both sides. They clutch and cry and yell "Nii-chan!" In response, Mitobe tries to wrap all of them with his long arms. Children snuggle more as they want to partake in their oldest brother's warm embrace.

Mitobe smiles at them and soothes their crying while indicating that he is just fine, so they don't need to worry anymore.

His two siblings who are close to him in age stand aside and watch the scene along with their mother. Mitobe looks at them and sees their puffed, red eyes. He frowns; he didn't want them to be worried like this. Two siblings laugh a bit and they, too, hug him. His mother kisses his bandaged forehead and strokes his hair gently. She looks at him love mixed with tears shining in her eyes.

Mitobe feels overwhelmed.

It's not that he doesn't welcome it. He loves his family dearly. He just didn't expect it.

He decides he can stay like this forever. So he tries to fight with his heavy eyelids. But it is a losing war although he's just woken up.

"I'm sorry but Mitobe-kun needs to rest now." A new voice announces. Mitobe notices the doctor standing next to the nurse and his father at the foot of the bed.

His young siblings once again whine. "But why? Nii-chan slept for 2 days!" They find it incredible to be able to sleep this much.

Doctor thinks of a way to explain the situation to the kids.

"It was a different kind of sleep." is all he can come up with.

Children look at the doctor skeptically as if they are saying 'Sleep is sleep. What's the difference?' Doctor guesses he's failed and feels a sweat drop rolling down on his face as the children hold more firmly their brother in possessiveness.

"Come on. We should leave so Rinnosuke can be better." The mother steps in.

Mitobe's young siblings hug even tighter; they are more than reluctant to let go of him. They already went through 2 horrible days without their beloved brother.

The oldest sister decides it's her turn now.

"Do you want Rin-nii to be worse? Because if you stay, that's what will happen." Her harsh words shake the kids in fear. They gasp and release Mitobe as they yell apologies and wish him sleep tight, so he comes back home quickly because their mother's cooking fails to be as good as his. Then they run out of the room.

Their mother apologizes purposefully to the doctor.

Doctor waves his hand indicating there is no problem.

"There is Rinnosuke's friend – he was very concerned as well. He will be here shortly…" Mitobe's father says to the doctor with a subtle question of whether or not his son's friend will be able to see Mitobe.

"He has to wait until tomorrow to see Mitobe-kun." Answers doctor kindly but there is finality to his words.

Mitobe is desperate to know Koganei's condition now. His mother understands and turns her knowing eyes to her son.

"Don't worry, Koganei-kun is fine. He only went home for a change of clothes. You can see him when you wake up." She plants a soft kiss on her son's temple before evacuating the room with others.

Mitobe abandons his quest of staying awake and lets the sleep take over.

**x.X.x**

Next time Mitobe wakes up, he doesn't hear the heart monitor or he flies. On the contrary, he feels the potent ways of gravity pulling him down head first. It is as if someone fastened a belt around his scalp and keeps tightening it.

He shuts his eyes tightly in hopes of reducing the headache even in the slightest. It doesn't work; moreover, it seems it increases the pain. His heartbeat quickens more with each throb pulsing inside his skull. He takes in deep breaths to calm down.

Mitobe thinks about cursing but he doesn't know which kind of cuss will be suitable for his situation. He is not comfortable with any of them. He comes to the conclusion of waking up to a headache sucks.

He isn't sure how long he lays limp and just breathes but eventually excessive oxygen reaches his head and dizziness lessens the pain to a bearable degree.

Mitobe finally focuses on his surroundings. He notes the heart monitor is off but the serum is still injected to his vein. The seat next to him is empty.

He can't decide what to do now. Should he call a nurse? There must be a button somewhere for it. He finds it when he searches the button with his fingers and presses.

Couple of minutes later a female nurse waltzes in. She quickly picks up the patient information clipboard.

"Good morning, Mitobe-kun. How are ya feeling?" Mitobe shakes his head. She proceeds to check his pulse.

"It's the headache, right?" Mitobe nods.

"It's normal. Ya knocked yer head, after all." She grins as she speaks in a weird accent.

Is it only Mitobe or this hospital's nurses give off a strange vibe?

"Hm, yer heart rate is fast a tad bit. 'Kay, 1 to 10 – which is yer pain?"

He shows his 8 fingers.

"Aw, poor boy. Want morphine?" She grins again.

If he wasn't in so much pain, maybe Mitobe would be amused but all he can do right now is to give her a funny look and nod in agreement. The thought of shouldn't a doctor decide this crosses his mind but he doesn't pay much heed to it.

Nurse injects a small dose of morphine and Mitobe waits for pain to be gone. Breathing becomes easier and he feels lighter. He gives her a grateful look which makes nurse giggle.

"Great stuff, eh? But this is the last time, 'kay?"

It means when the patient wakes up next time, he will have to put up with the headache. Then the teenager is looking at her, trying to make her understand what he is asking.

"What?" Unfortunately, she doesn't.

The door opens abruptly and Mitobe's sister strolls in before she stops short.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just-" She looks at her brother. "Rin-nii! You are awake, good morning." She beams at him.

"Yep. Ya can see him now."

With nurse's approval, Mitobe's sister exits the room quickly then comes back pushing a protesting boy from behind.

"-no it's okay. You guys should see him first."

Mitobe's eyes widen and a big grin stretches his dry lips as he hears the voice. His heart beats a little faster with the sight of his friend, safe and sound.

Koganei drops his protest when he notices Mitobe's eyes on him.

"Mitobe…"

Said boy hears the uncertainty in his friend's voice. Mitobe looks at him reassuringly which makes Koganei sprint to his side.

Nurse inspects first Mitobe's expression then Koganei's. She thinks this must be a crucial moment between teenagers. She leaves the room as she speaks to Koganei with a serious tone.

"I just gave 'im morphine. Try not to worn out too much yer boyfriend."

Mitobe blushes, and his sister looks shocked. She then laughs at her brother's red face while trailing behind the nurse before she closes the door.

Koganei seems he hears none of it. He leans over Mitobe, stares at him intently.

"Are you sure you are okay? Are you in too much pain? How are you feeling?"

Memories of the blood he's seen when Mitobe was lifted and carried away in ambulance still haunt him. His best friend could have had a serious concussion because of Koganei's own stupidity. He doesn't remember a time he was that much afraid.

These past 3 days, guilt and fear of losing someone so close have been eating him inside but he couldn't show any of it. He had to stay strong somehow for the sake of Mitobe's siblings as they needed someone to be an anchor for them. This is one of the many things what Mitobe is to his family; an anchor at their worst times. Someone who is to be hold on, trusted when everything becomes too much. Someone they know will be there and comfort them no matter what.

And this is what Mitobe is to Koganei as well.

Through the time when Mitobe couldn't be with them, Koganei undertook the job upon himself since everything was his fault. So he tried to call all of his inner strength even though he was sure, at some point, Mitobe wasn't going to wake up ever again.

Now looking into deep black orbs, Koganei can't help but selfishly seek warmth in there all for himself alone. His friend doesn't let him down; Mitobe offers his most comforting smile to him as Koganei sags to the chair.

He sits silently as he lets the reality of he isn't going to lose his closest, most significant friend sink in. Then Koganei gets angry.

"Why did you do it, Mitobe? I was an idiot for playing around. I should have been the one suffering the outcome, _not_ you."

Mitobe gives an apologetic look to soothe his friend's anger. He isn't sorry about saving him, not at all. But he didn't want Koganei to be upset at him while doing so.

Koganei, though, understands the precise meaning behind those eyes and becomes even angrier.

"No. No, you don't get it, Mitobe. You don't get how important you are to me, to your family and to our friends as much as we are to you. Everyone was worried sick! You could have d-died! And I was – I was – " Koganei has to stop and draw a deep breath. He can't voice out any more words.

He doesn't notice tears have been seeping out from his eyes until Mitobe reaches his hand to softly wipe them away. They must be the tears he's been holding in since the accident; they finally found a way to expose themselves.

Koganei clasps Mitobe's hand in both of his, surprising the quiet teenager in the process. He rests his forehead on their joined hands as Koganei tries to compose himself.

"I was so scared." He admits in a small voice, thankfully, there are no tears anymore. He eventually manages to gulp down the lump in his throat.

Koganei's confession clenches something in Mitobe's chest. But then, the heavy mood dissipates as a fact finally strikes Koganei.

"Mitobe… Did that nurse call you my boyfriend?"

Koganei lifts his head just in time to see a flush spreading on Mitobe's cheeks. He blinks once, twice, thrice-

"Eh?!" And a rather wide blush dominates Koganei's features as well. "Why are you blushing?!"

Mitobe throws him a look obviously saying 'Why are _you _blushing?!' and both of them turn their eyes away.

Mitobe waits for the awkward silence to ensue as he tries to determine whether or not he should disjoin their hands. But he learns quickly it is impossible to have awkwardness between him and Koganei. Other boy fixes his brown eyes on Mitobe again, his mouth quirks with amusement and eyes shining with mirth. An expression which, Mitobe realizes now, he's missed.

An argument breaks out behind the door and attracts both of the teenager's attention. They can't pick out the voices even though the argument is becoming heated. Then they clearly hear the yell.

"BE QUIET, YOU MORONS! WE ARE IN A HOSPITAL!"

Kiyoshi Teppei opens the door and steps in as he is looking back and talking.

"But you are the loudest, Hyuuga." He finally channels his attention to the boys inside the room while blocking the entry and vision from others. They look at each for a silent few moments. Kiyoshi gazes at their locked hands and laughs merrily.

Mitobe blushes again; he doesn't even know why he is blushing so much. He wiggles his hand to separate it from Koganei's but other boy continues to hold his hand captive tightly. Koganei only lowers their hands on the bed, puts them under the cover and hides from sight. Then he gives Kiyoshi a strange glance Mitobe cannot decipher.

Kiyoshi suddenly stumbles in to the room and barely saves himself from planting face first on the floor.

"Don't just stand there, idiot! We can't come in." Hyuuga appears behind Teppei as the rest of the teammates fill the room.

The juniors skip to the bedside fleetly and start to talk, ask questions all at once. Mitobe tries to follow their clamor but can't quite reach to their fast pace. Moreover, Hyuuga and Kiyoshi are still bickering, Izuki is standing behind Koganei but he is talking back at the quarreling duo.

His friends are making a total ruckus. Mitobe is puzzled as he briefly wonders how his teammates manage to behave worse than his small siblings. Then he realizes he kind of answered his own wonderment. It's because they _are _his teammates.

He fondly listens to their childish racket. He doesn't notice Tsuchida standing right beside Koganei; he has enough view for guessing what Koganei's both hands might be doing under the cover, close to the edge of the bed. He raises an eyebrow to Koganei; other boy looks back somewhat sheepishly and shakes his head for him not to mention it right now.

Then a loud bang almost cracks the open door and teenagers see Riko along with a senior nurse.

"You are disturbing other patients! Behave yourselves!" Nurse scolds them and stomps away. Aida looks just as furious. For now though, she has other priorities. She pushes the juniors aside as to be near to her hospitalized player.

"Mitobe-kun, how have you been? Thank God, you look better. We really missed you, you know." Everyone nods at her words as they murmur their agreement. It's been quite hard to enjoy and concentrate on basketball when one of them wasn't there. They felt incomplete.

More than hearing and understanding, Mitobe senses his teammates' predicament as they circle his bed and watch him with expressions that support frown mixed with relief and contentment. Mitobe thinks he was really on luck's good side when he was born. His chest is tightening with the affections he's been given for the past few days. It isn't painful or anything. Mitobe is more than grateful and happy to carry these clenching feelings in his heart.

Silence falls upon the room after coach's words but eventually Kuroko breaks it.

"Mitobe-senpai, Kagami-kun cooked for you as a get well soon gift."

"Ah, yeah…" Kagami reveals a colossal basket. "It's nothing much though. Just some breads."

"How are you able to say this is not much?" Hyuuga is taken aback because 'nothing much' is enough to be food supply for the hospital at least three days.

"Well, senpai has a crowded family and I didn't know what his favorite was… So I sorta baked every kind." Kagami feels awkward as his friends give him funny looks.

Indebtedness is written all over Mitobe's face as he thanks Kagami silently for not only thinking him but his family as well. Kagami laughs strangely; he is not good at handling this sort of situations. Then redhead is holding a relatively smaller basket in his hands.

"I baked some for you guys, too." Again, his teammates are giving him funny looks. "W-what?" It is unnerving to say the least.

"How nice of you, Kagami-kun." Kuroko shows a small smile as Aida takes the basket from Kagami's hands.

"Ah~ smells so good~," Koganei drools when the delicious smell of freshly baked homemade breads envelopes the room.

"Woah." Hyuuga looks inside the basket and is baffled, once again, to see numerous breads all together and it seems Kagami wasn't kidding when he said he baked every possible variation. He picks curry bread and takes a bite immediately. "Woah!" Captain can't think of a better word to describe the delicious treat in his mouth.

"Wow, Kagami this is really amazing. You are awesome." Kiyoshi slaps his junior on his back as he continues to eat his katsu-sando*.

"It is very good indeed, Kagami-kun. You got to teach me how to make this." Riko says eagerly and Mitobe nods in full agreement while munching on their korokke-pan*.

"Ah, haha… Alright." _I'll try. _Kagami adds in his mind.

Izuki bites his melon-pan*, after he swallows he thanks Kagami the best way he knows. "Kagami is a real cook who can really cook."

Hyuuga has his mouth full so he settles with smacking Izuki on the head.

After Izuki's, no one really has the will to comment further on the breads but they thank Kagami over and over. They are very much glad there are two great cooks in their team to compensate all the times they're poisoned by their coach. Kuroko mumbles he should somehow make Midorima-kun eat the anpan*.

When the teenagers finish eating, Kagami tries to catch his breath. He had a hard time trying to deal with all of the compliments. He can say he fought well. He is one compliment away to be knocked out though.

"Ha~ that was great. Thank you, Kagami." Tsuchida gives the finishing blow when he also finishes his bread.

"Mngh- Thahnkhs." Kagami voices his gratitude in the weirdest way known in Seirin history. He hears himself speaking and knows he has to flee from there when his friends, once more, give him that funny look.

Seirin first stares in surprise behind the leaving Ace then chuckles. After, coach begins to explain her new methods for training to Mitobe. Captain and other seniors talk about their old and new tactics and Koganei randomly suggests combining both. Silence ensues briefly before everyone starts to throw ideas about how they might be able to pull that off.

Kagami returns at some point and he joins in the debate as well. Basketball addicts discuss about it for seem to be hours without realizing until Riko notices they already missed the first two periods of school. They hurriedly pack up and begin to leave one by one as they tell their farewells to Mitobe.

"Aren't you coming, Koga?" Tsuchida asks before exiting the room.

"I will. Give me a sec." Koganei regrettably has to go to school; he's been ditching since Mitobe has been hospitalized. Tsuchida gets the clue and closes the door after him as Mitobe finds himself alone with Koganei.

"Mitobe," Koganei uncovers their hands. Mitobe is mildly bewildered for them to be holding hands all this time and not getting caught. "You will be okay, right?" Koganei's voice is somewhat unsure and pleading as he doesn't want to leave his friend's side.

Mitobe nods then smiles at Koganei in the way that is only reserved for the boy. Though he eases Koganei's worries, Mitobe doesn't wish to sleep at all since he knows there will be a world's pain of headache waiting.

Maybe he shows it on his face even though he tries to hide it, Mitobe isn't sure but still, Koganei leans closer and kisses the corner of his lips.

"I'll be here when you wake up. Sleep well, Mitobe." Koganei whispers to his ear before abruptly pulling away and swiftly exiting the room.

Mitobe lays somewhat petrified. Then he sees Koganei's red ear while the other boy is attempting to fly away from the room. Mitobe relaxes on the mattress and beams.

He looks at his hand Koganei had been holding then fists it. It feels as if the warmth of the brunette's hands will not go away. He softly touches to the place Koganei kissed with that very hand and closes his eyes – savoring the lingering taste of Koganei and reliving the fresh memory. He doesn't even want to fight against the sleep anymore. He knows it will be worth to wake up. Because even though there'll be pain, Mitobe is sure something so much sweeter will also be waiting for him.

* * *

_Katsu-sando_: sandwich with breaded pork cutlet filling

_Korokke-pan_: bread roll sandwich with croquette (deep-fried patties mashed potato) filling

_Melon-pan_: sweet round bun covered in a (sometimes melon flavored) cookie-like coating, scored in criss cross shape and baked

_Anpan_: sweet roll filled with red bean paste

I think you are guessing what curry bread is. I'll explain it anyway, it's bread filled with curry. Info is copy-paste from our dear web encyclopedia.

**A\N: **I possibly cannot be the only one who ships these guys. Come on peeps, they are practically cannon. They must have more attention. Mitobe is without a doubt is the sweetest, nicest guy in KnB (Kiyoshi is the second) and with Koganei, they make the cutest couple. *3* I don't accept any objections.

Gee, i wonder why my endings have begun to look more like beginnings. How annoying.

Anyway, if you manage to see past my weirdness, I'll say thank you for reading and I have no idea why I made Kagami so awkward.


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